I know my father would’ve blown a gasket if I’d vanished into thin air without at least leaving a note. Hell, even if I’d left a note, he would’ve lost his shit. I would’ve been grounded for weeks for pulling a stunt like that, but he would’ve eventually come to his senses and realized I was acting out to get attention.
As soon as I get back to the bar, Alyssa comes right for me. “How did it go?”
I draw in a long, shaky breath and plop down in a seat at an empty table. “Cheryl was crying.”
“Aw,” Alyssa says, sliding into the chair across from me. “She’s a sweet old lady. I’m sure she was scared.”
“Yeah, she was.”
“Was the dad there?”
“Yep.” I scrub a hand across my forehead, trying to get the mental image of Wylder out of my mind, but it doesn’t work.
“And?”
“He was pissed.”
“Well, duh.”
“He’s grounding them.”
“No doubt, but did you recognize him?”
“No. Why would I?”
“Marvin was telling me about him. He grew up in the neighborhood.”
“He did?” I scrunch my nose, thinking I knew everyone from around here, but Wylder didn’t seem the least bit familiar.
“He’s older than us, though, but I don’t remember him even out and about in the neighborhood. He must not have hung around here much because I can’t put a face with the name.”
“It’s a face you wouldn’t forget.”
Alyssa perks up, straightens her back, and leans closer to me. “Do tell.”
“He’s hot.”
“How hot?”
“He’s the type of guy whose body you would have happily worshipped without asking for his name first.”
“I would never.”
I stare at her because she’s lying.
“Okay. Okay. I did do that.”
“But if I had a good man like you, I’d block out that period of my life too and deny it at every turn.”
“He knows everything about me, including all the stupid shit we did.”
“You told him my stupid shit too?”
Alyssa laughs. “It was more like our stupid shit. We were together for all of it.”
My dad stalks into the bar and stops when his eyes land on Alyssa and me sitting at a table. “I’m here. You two can go.”
“What?” I ask, pushing myself up from the table. “It’s my night to cover the bar.”
